Belabored Podcast #34: Communities Rise Up For Public Ed

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Subscribe and rate on iTunes here. Check out the full Belabored archive here. Tweet at @dissentmag with #belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Belabored is produced by Natasha Lewis. This week on Belabored, Sarah and Michelle round up some of the week’s labor news: Washington’s epic fail on unemployment benefits, reports of rampant labor violations by companies operating on federal contracts, Chris Hayes and the union drive at an NBC subsidiary, and a recap of last week’s #LowPayisNotOkay low-wage worker protests. Then they discuss this week’s major national labor action in the classroom, with protests in dozens of cities led by teachers and community groups, demanding fair school funding, less testing and more creativity in the curriculum, and resistance to privatization. Then they get their journo-envy on with some “Argh! I wish I’d written that!” stories. Featuring the voices of 32BJ workers and Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education. Links for those reading along at home: Previous coverage of the low-wage worker actions in Belabored #33 ‘Low Pay Is Not OK’: Fast Food Workers Rise Up with Nationwide Protests Study Finds Federal Contracts Given to Flagrant Violators of Labor Laws Michelle: When Federal Contracts Turn Into Corporate Welfare Exclusive: Chris Hayes attends secret union meeting with unhappy NBC workers Sarah: A Group of Workers Corporate America Claimed Were Impossible to Organize Win Key Union Votes Michelle: Teachers Seek to ‘Reclaim’ Education Sarah: Taking the Caring Out of Teaching Michelle: While Schools Sink, NYC Teachers Get Slammed in Shame Game Sarah: How Young Is Too Young for Multiple-Choice Tests? (A) 5 (B) Never Michelle: Civil Rights Organizations File Complaint Over New York’s High Stakes Tests Sarah: What You Need to Know About the Seattle Teachers’ Rebellion and the Deeply Flawed Test That Inspired It Sarah: Bill de Blasio’s Vision For A More Equal New York What We Wish We’d Written: Anna Simonton, Alternet: How Wall Street Power Brokers Are Designing the Future of Public Education as a Money-Making Machine John Nichols, The Nation: Nelson Mandela: Union Man The post Belabored Podcast #34: Communities Rise Up For Public Ed appeared first on Dissent Magazine.